# Strange problem with longtabu

I would like to share with you a quite simple example LaTeX is not able to compile.

I use the longtabu environment provided by tabu package. I am using commands from booktabs as recommended in the documentation of tabu.

\documentclass[11pt]{book}
\usepackage[a4paper,showframe]{geometry}

\RequirePackage[latin1]{inputenc}

\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tabu}
\usepackage{longtable}

\usepackage[english]{babel}

\begin{document}

\begin{footnotesize}

\begin{longtabu} to 0.75\textwidth{cX[L]ll}
% We use commands from 'booktabs' package because it is recommended by 'tabu'.
%
\caption[Short caption for index.]{Long caption to be shown at the top of the first page of the table.\label{tab:label}}
\toprule
Col 1 & Col 2 & Col 3 & Col 4\\
\midrule
%
\caption[]{(Cont.) Long caption to be shown at the top of the rest of the table.}
\toprule
Col 1 & Col 2 & Col 3 & Col 4\\
\midrule
%
\bottomrule
\endfoot
%
\endlastfoot
% Now the regular content :
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
\\
\bottomrule
\end{longtabu}
\end{footnotesize}

\end{document}


In the .log file I get this error:

! Misplaced \noalign.
\toprule ->\noalign
{\ifnum 0=}\fi \@aboverulesep =\abovetopsep \global \@b...
l.88 \end{longtabu}

I expect to see \noalign only after the \cr of
an alignment. Proceed, and I'll ignore this case.

! Missing } inserted.
<inserted text>
}
l.88 \end{longtabu}

I've inserted something that you may have forgotten.
(See the <inserted text> above.)
With luck, this will get me unwedged. But if you
really didn't forget anything, try typing 2' now; then
my insertion and my current dilemma will both disappear.


and many other similar errors. And the compiler doesn't end. I have to force it to stop.

The problem could be related with caption sentences, because if I delete them, the example is compiled and a proper document is produced.

What am I missing? Maybe it's a silly question, but I am not able to understand what's happening, so I would really appreciate your help.

-

You have forgotten to terminate the caption with an end of line \\. Look at the example on page 11 in the longtable-manual.

A suggestion: If you add a line

\tabulinesep=3pt


before the table, you get nicer spacing. Try this one:

\documentclass[11pt,a4paper]{book}
\usepackage[a4paper,showframe]{geometry}

\RequirePackage[latin1]{inputenc}

\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tabu}
\usepackage{longtable}

\usepackage[english]{babel}

\begin{document}
\begin{footnotesize}

\tabulinesep=3pt
\begin{longtabu} to 0.75\textwidth{cX[L]ll}
% We use commands from 'booktabs' package
% because it is recommended by 'tabu'.
%
\caption[Short caption for index.]{Long caption to be %
shown at the top of the first page %
of the table.\label{tab:label}}\\ % **NB**
\toprule
Col 1 & Col 2 & Col 3 & Col 4\    \midrule
%
\caption[]{(Cont.) Long caption to be shown at %
the top of the rest of the table.}\\  % **NB**
\toprule
Col 1 & Col 2 & Col 3 & Col 4\    \midrule
%
\bottomrule
\endfoot
%
\endlastfoot
% Now the regular content :
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.
$\Phi(z)$ &
Description wich is quite long, normally. &
$]0,1[$ &
This is a reference page.

Thank you!!! So easy... But I didn't find proper examples at longtable or tabu documentation. Ups... Now I see... So there was a proper example... –  Vicent Aug 30 '12 at 16:06
No, but the tabu-manual say it use the longtable code, and then I guessed that I had to read the longtable-manual. –  Sveinung Aug 30 '12 at 16:08